Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Garden Pet Peeves

Cecil Roberts hit the nail on the head with one of my biggest garden pet peeves. “To a gardener there is nothing more exasperating than a hose that just isn't long enough.” Carrying around the pretty watering can works for those container plantings but when it comes to full-fledge watering, there is nothing worse than dragging around lines of tangled hoses. It’s enough to drive you batty when 200 + feet of hose lines kink and all watering operations cease until you find and unloosen the knots! But there’s more to this pet peeve than just pure exasperation.The biggest frustration is when you cause damage to your plant materials growing within the line of fire. With lengths of hoses running throughout your garden beds, barreling over delicate perennials or vegetables is a big no-no. Oh, was that the resistance on the other end?

The best garden invention since sliced bread to add to an already installed irrigation system is quick couplers (or snap valves). You will still require one length of hose but if couplers are strategically positioned within your garden, a 50 to 70’ line will suffice. None of those triple and quadrupled hoses linked together in a mangled mess. Each hose line has its own separate home. Plus no drippy spigots to look at and once you’re done watering, everything is out of sight (a 10 to 12” diameter valve cover at ground level.) And no more futzing with trying to attach the hose threads to the spigot.

While quick couplers do add an initial expense to your irrigation needs, you shall never lug and tug hoses or damage delicate plant materials in your garden again. My only pet peeve with lifting up the valve cover – there’s always bugs living in those boxes! Just take a deep breath - nothing too frightening in there. For all other watering needs, there is drip irrigation. But for now, with all this rain, we don’t have to worry about watering for a little bit!

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